Bittersweet
by Ande
Summary: When Marina Brown comes home from work one day, she finds much more than she is expecting. My first fanfic! Please let me know how I'm doing, good or bad!
1. Chapter 1

The snow crunched under Marina Brown's knee high black suede boots as she trudged wearily from her old black Beretta to the apartment building that she lived in with her mom and brother. That's what the lease said anyway. Lately it seemed that her mother spent all her time at her new boyfriend's house and her older brother was usually at some party or trying to sneak into the bars. The arrangement suited Marina, however, because, though she got lonely at times, she preferred her own company to that of her brother or her mom's boyfriend, Stan's.

The old brownstone building looked like a haven to Marina, away from the stress and noise that was the Mall during the holiday season.

'_Working retail must really be doing something to my brain if I'm looking forward to this dump.'_ Marina thought with a sardonic smile, studiously ignoring the two dirty, unkempt men who were smoking something that wasn't a cigarette by the corner.

As she made her way up the three flights of stairs, Marina pulled off the name tag she had to wear for her job at a trendy clothing store in the mall. She made a face at her new burgundy top and smoothed out the small pin marks left in the fabric. She loved working at Reyes because it paid great for a high school job and she got an awesome discount. Unfortunately, she always seemed to be punching holes in her clothing with her name tag. _Oh well_, she thought philosophically, _it's a small price to pay for having such a great job._

Following the path worn in the old orange carpet, Marina finally made it to the door of her apartment. Just as she was about to open the door, however, it was flung open in her face and out strode two guys laughing and holding up a girl who appeared to be no more than fifteen. She was obviously drunk and didn't seem to care that the guys had her skirt twisted almost to her waist.

Gaping in amazement, Marina stared until the trio disappeared down the stairs. Now, her heart sinking with disappointment, she cautiously stepped into the apartment.

The sight that greeted her shouldn't have surprised her, but it did. Inside her home there were at least thirty people, all drinking and seeming to be having a great time. Slamming the door behind her, Marina searched with her eyes for her brother, Steven.

After pushing past a group of girls gathered in her kitchen, she finally spotted her brother lounging indolently on the couch, a plump blond sprawled across his lap. His hand was under her shirt and he seemed to be having a grand old time. With an angry curse, Marina ripped off her jacket, threw it over a chair and stormed to the couch to stand over her brother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Steven?"

"Rina!" Steven exclaimed, his voice slurred from drink "You're late for the party. Hey, be a doll and get me a beer, will ya?"

"No! What is wrong with you? You can't have a party in here! You're gonna get us kicked out!"

"Relax, Rina, nobody cares. Look." He stood up, dumping the bold unceremoniously to the floor where she promptly began to giggle uncontrollably, "We're not even being loud."

"I don't care! I want these people out of here, now!" Marina yelled, stamping her foot.

By now everybody seemed to be staring at them, but Marina was beyond caring, she was so angry. She didn't even notice the blond jump up until she was standing in front of her not two inches from her face.

"Look, bitch, we're all having a good time here, so why don't you just take your skinny little butt out of here and leave us alone!" the girl said, jabbing her finger into Marina's chest.

Marina snapped. There was no other word for it. As the girl jabbed her again, Marina grabbed her wrist and twisted it saying "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you're in _my_ apartment and I want you out!"

Her words seemed to inspire the girl to violence and Marina just barely ducked out of the way of the girls punch and delivered a blow to the blondes cheek. She was about to hit the girl again when someone grabbed her about the waist and pulled her away. Marina fought, wanting nothing more than to scratch the girls eyes out, but whoever was holding her was much stronger and he pinioned her arms down. Steven had a similar hold on his blond and was yelling for the guy who was holding her, Dave, to take her to her room. The last she saw of her brother and the blond, he had her pinned down on the couch.

She knew Dave slightly and recognized him as one of her brother's high school friends. The guy was big, had been a football player in high school, and had a reputation for treating his girlfriends badly. Now as Dave slammed the door behind them, Marina knew real fear and began to struggle madly.

Dave seemed to be amused by her struggles and even laughed at her until one of her kicks landed on his shin. With a strangled oath, he threw her violently on her twin bed and she felt a thud as her shoulder hit the wall hard. She struggled frantically to get up off her stomach, but he was on her in an instant, his knee pressing cruelly into the small of her back. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pressed her face into the pillow, making even breathing a struggle. She was aware he was talking to her, but his harsh ugly words had no meaning to her. Tears were seeping out from the corners of her eyes and as she began to feel she would pass out from lack of air, he suddenly turned her over onto her back. Grabbing her wrists in a cruel grip, Dave pinned them above her head. His free hand was groping under her shirt, and as he shoved his knee roughly between her legs, she finally found the breath to scream.

"Shut up!" He grunted and slapped her hard in the face, turning her head to the side with the force of his blow. For a moment, she just lay there, dazed, dimly aware that he was shaking her until finally for the second time that night Marina snapped. With crushing accuracy, she brought her knee up into his groin. As he gasped in pain, Marina slipped from under him and ran to the door. But she wasn't fast enough. Just as she was about to turn the knob, Dave grabbed her arm and sent her flying into her bookshelf. She landed heavily on the floor on her side. He went to stand over her and kicked her until she was laying flat on her back and placed one foot on her chest, putting just enough pressure on her to keep her from moving.

"Dave, please let me go, please..." Marina managed to whisper, hating herself for begging, but unable to stop herself.

"Shut up, bitch. I would have been nice to you, but you fought me, you slut. Maybe if you give me what I want, I won't hurt you too badly."

Marina stared at him helplessly as tears fell from her eyes. She told herself to scream again, but didn't have the energy. _Just give it to him. You know he'll take it anyway, so you might as well save yourself some pain._

This time when he pulled her up, Marina didn't struggle; just lay limply in his arms. He dropped her on the bed and she felt his hand grip her chin and turn her face to the side. Dread turned Marina's stomach and without meaning to, she screamed.

He backhanded her, and Marina whimpered in pain. His hand was on the collar of her shirt, and just as she felt the fabric start to give way beneath his tearing hands, she caught a glimpse of his face and ice seemed to congeal in her stomach. Her breath became labored, and just as she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the door was thrown open and a drunken voice intruded.

"Dude, you'd better get outta here, man, the cops are coming up an' they don't look happy."


	2. Chapter 2

Dave froze, his face inches from Marina's neck. Marina could feel her heart ramming against her chest, as if trying to escape her body. For a moment everything was still, then, with an infuriated growl, Dave pushed away from her and off the bed.

I'll see you later." He snarled. Then he was gone. Marina heard the apartment door slam a mere second later.

Very slowly she sat up and turned to look at the guy who was still hanging in her doorway. She had expected him to run out after Dave, especially since he claimed that there were policemen on their way, but here he was looking at her, and, strangely he didn't look drunk. In fact, he looked quite alert.

"Are you ok?" The boy asked, venturing a bit father into the room. "Did he hurt you?"

Marina stared at him emptily for a moment, then hesitantly said "He-hit me a couple of times…I thought he wanted…but his face was different, and his teeth…He was going to bite me! Why? Why would he do that?" Marina realized that she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself. The moment when she had seen Dave clearly seemed to be replaying over and over in her mind. His face changing ever so subtly, his canines unnaturally long and sharp. She had known in that moment that she was going to die.

But she hadn't. This guy had saved her and she didn't even know him.

"I'm sorry," she started, and was horrified to find herself in tears.

* * *

Jordan Taylor cursed silently to himself as he rushed to Marina's side. He had no idea how to deal with a crying female, but he couldn't just stand there. So instead, he clumsily patted her back and offered awkward words of comfort.

Finally her tears eased up and she moved away from him.

"I'm sorry. I was just so scared. I'm Marina, by the way." He could tell she was trying to put on a brave face, but he could still see her mouth trembling with suppressed tears.

"I know." He smiled wryly at her startled look. "I'm in your AP History class."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"It's Jordan. And don't worry about it." He brushed aside her concerns with the air of someone who has more important things on his mind. Which, in fact, he did.

"Listen, I know you've been through a lot tonight, and you probably don't want to hear what I'm about to tell you, but you have to know. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but what you've seen tonight can get you killed. No, wait, let me finish." Marina had opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. "You probably already figured this out, but Dave is a vampire. A made vampire. Very recently made, actually."

Marina nodded, accepting this as fact.

"Go on."

She sat in silence as he told her about the Night World, about vampires, witches, werewolves and shapeshifters. When he finished with his story, she stared at the forest green plaid of her bedspread, absorbing the information and feeling surprisingly unsurprised.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She finally asked

"I need you to understand how big this is. When Dave showed you what he is, he sentenced you to death. The Night World has strict laws regarding this. It's vital to their own safety."

A shiver of fear ran up Marina's spine as she looked Jordan full in the face. "So how do _you_ know all of this?"

He returned her look with utter calm. "I'm part of the Night World, too."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Oh. _Oh_. Well shit. Marina slowly got to her feet and backed away from him.

"So what are you here for?" she tried to sound cold and bored, but she had a feeling that she failed miserably. "Are you my executioner?"

A look of shock swept over Jordan's face. "Goddess, no. I'm here to save you."

"And just how do plan to do that? I'm not trying to be difficult, but if the Night World is everywhere, how are _you_ going to save me?"

"Well, to start, I'm going to call Dave and tell him that you don't remember what happened."

"And he's just going to believe you?" Marina asked incredulously.

"Well, yes. He thinks that I'm on his side. I'm a witch, and even though witches and vampires don't always see eye to eye, we agree that humans must not know about our existence. Well, most of us do anyway. I'll just tell him that I changed your memory, and as far as you know, he brought you to your room and left right away."

"Are you sure he's going to believe that?"

Jordan smiled, almost wistfully, regretfully. "He'll have to. Because it will be true."

"Wait! What do you mean?" But Marina already knew. She saw a bright flash of light, and then everything was dark.

* * *

"I'm losing it. Oh, goddess am I losing it." Jordan muttered to himself as he left the apartment.

What was he thinking, telling a human about the Night World? If anyone ever found out, he was likely to be killed.

'_Is that what you want? To die? Because that's where you're headed, buddy."_ A sardonic voice in his head stated.

'Well what was I supposed to do? Just let Dave kill her?'

'_You didn't have to tell her. You better hope that you did a good job on her memory. Both of your lives depend on it.'_

Jordan had no answer for that. It was the simple truth.

* * *

"Marina! Marina! What's wrong with you? Are you hung over or something?"

Marina awoke slowly, painfully, to her mothers abrasive voice. She peered blearily at the alarm clock beside her bed. 12:23 pm, but the room was still dark. Marina's eyes closed again.

"Marina!" her mother nearly shouted, a note of concern in her voice. Marina sat bolt upright and looked at her mother sharply. Was she worried about her?

"I'm fine, mom. I'm just not feeling good. You know I don't drink."

"Right. Good. Well, your boss just called. She wanted to know where you are."

"Crap! Oh no! I must have forgotten to set my alarm. Kerry's gonna freak out."

"Settle down! It's ok. I told her you're sick. I said that you would call her tonight."

"Oh. Thanks, mom." Marina relaxed against the headboard and watched quizzically as her mom padded about her room, picking up a framed picture that had somehow fallen off her bookshelf, and straightening a pile of books on the floor.

At 35, Heather Brown was still quite young. She was pretty with her blond hair and green eyes. Tall and slender, she didn't look much like a mom. She didn't usually act like a mom either, oftenleaving her children to take care of themselves. Marina couldn't remember the last time Heather had shown concern for anyone but herself. To have her mom in her room, tidying things up and asking after her welfare was a novel experience.

"So…" Marina began, "What's up?"

"Well, you remember me telling you about Jared, right?"

Her mom's boyfriend. They'd been together for a couple of months. "Sure. What about him?"

"He wants to take us all out to dinner next Saturday night. Are you free?"

Marina blinked in surprise. She couldn't remember the last time she had met one of her mom's boyfriends. They usually only lasted a month or two. Marina suspected that most of them never even knew about her or Stephen.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good. I really like this guy, honey. I think he'll be really good for us. Can I count on you to help keep your brother on his best behavior? Oh, and wear something nice. He's taking us to Lola's." Heather left, without waiting for a response.

Lola's was the nicest restaurant in town. Marina thought she knew what her mom meant when she said she would be "good for them", now.

With a shrug, Marina heaved herself out of bed. _'Lord, I'm stiff this morning. What's wrong with me? Maybe I really _am_ sick.' _Marina thought, moving about experimentally. She was tempted to get back into bed, but dismissed the thought immediately. If she wasn't going to work, she had plenty of homework to do, plus auditions for the spring drama production were coming up this week and she had lines to memorize.

So, fighting the lure of her bed, Marina made her way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, Marina turned the light on, turned to face her reflection, and cried out in shock.


End file.
